Spring is in the air!!

Today is the first day of spring!  Flowers are blooming and every morning I wake up to birds singing.    Spring has got to be the most wonderful season of all.

Spring is the transition period between winter and summer. Spring and "springtime" inspire ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth.

This morning I heard Dove's cooing, Sparrow's singing and all I want to do and stay home sit in my hammock and watch the birds prepare for their spring dances of romance and mate finding.

Alas I am already at the office so no bird watching today unless one lands on the tree outside my window.

I hung my natural fiber bird nest on Saturday, so I am anxious to see if any bird finds it inviting and chooses to make it home.  I was told that finches would like this type of nest.  So, I will keep you posted!

Back to an old favorite

Somehow we find ourselves with winter behind us for the most part and no birding trips yet to report.  So we picked a nice warm day in February and packed up our bird seed, binoculars, cameras and the Napster and off we go to Morton's in Sag Harbor.

We really enjoyed feeding the birds from our hand last time.  So that was our mission.  Try to attract some chickadees or perhaps a woodpecker to the seed in our hand.  Much to our surprise we spotted two birds that we can add to our blog.  En route to our destination, we spotted the familiar V-shaped wing formation of the Turkey Vulture.  




Our next unexpected surprise was a turkey of another kind ---- Wild Turkeys!!!  Lots of them!!!  Seeing so many at one time was a rare treat indeed.   We marveled at the beauty of their feathers but they definitely have a face only a mother could love.  And boy were they meaty!  Several hens and their broods may join up into bands of more than 30 birds. Winter groups have been seen to exceed 200.




We were happy to see that, even though the ground was not snow covered, the chickadees were still anxious to visit any food filled hand.  And if there was only one hand extended, they would wait patiently for their turn.

  



As we continue on the path towards Little Peconic Bay, we find ourselves on a peaceful meandering trail with birds chirping, wind blowing and the air getting colder as we get closer to the water.  





The path was beautiful but some in our group were whining about the stiff breeze coming off the bay.  Someone whom shall remain anonymous came to the woods in the middle of February with only one glove.

So, as we turn back towards the car, we feed more chickadees and catch a cardinal posing just for us.

Connetquot State Park

Not every birding foray yields the desired results.  This post could also be titled, "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" since we heard more of that than birds.  However, we were together once again, after a long period of not birding, and that was the important thing.

We started out our afternoon at the McDonald's in Bay Shore because the pond behind usually has the (for us) elusive Black Ducks.  Unfortunately, there were none to be seen, so we headed to Connetquot State Park.  After living our whole lives on Long Island, neither of us had ever been to this park.  So we had great anticipation. 

Our first stop was the pond.  There we saw the usual Canada Geese, Mute Swans, Mallards and a Great Blue Heron.  There were also winter visitors such as Hooded Mergansers and Ring-Necked Ducks.

Hooded Merganser

It was the pond that yielded all the rewards.  Once we began our trek around the pond and through the woods, there was not a bird to be seen and only one to be heard, a Black-Capped Chickadee.  And aside from a few Crows and one lone unidentifiable hawk, flying at a very high altitude and very fast, this was the only bird I was able to snap a picture of.........

Southwest Jet

We certainly had time to bond since we weren't doing much birding.  It took us longer to get to the other side of the pond than expected, the trail being about 3.5 miles.  Since the sun was beginning to set, we were happy when we finally rounded the bend to head back.  It was at that point that one of us, I won't mention who, (not Ar), realized that she lost her sunglasses!  Now we had to back track about a quarter mile, but successfully recovered them.  Now our fear of being in the park after dark set in and we had to greatly pick up the pace.

Ar heading into the sunset.

We were hoping to see or hear an owl since dusk was quickly approaching.  No owls, but many deer.  We saw about 12.  Here's one........

Our legs carried us to the entrance just before dark.  Though the birds were few, the bonding was great.  We returned home, tired and happy.

Backyard Birding from my Hammock

As this year come's to an end, I can look back on the few lucid or happy moments that I've spent bird watching.

It's hard to know where to begin, but these are the photo's I found on my camera spanning from the few peaceful summer moments in my hammock to Ocean City Maryland in the fall and then the first snow upstate.

Juvenile Hairy Woodpecker

I had the privilege to see a baby Hairy Woodpecker perhaps at his first experience on a bird feeder.  






 I was happy to be in the right place at the right time.  When mother and son made their way to my backyard on my feeder.                                    

Beautiful sighting

So as the day wore on I had a few more visitors at my feeders.

Chipmunks

Cardinal

Red-Winged Blackbird

 

Northern Flicker

Somehow that warm summer day in the hammock soon became a fall day in Ocean City Maryland with my fellow birder San.  We saw many birds on the beach, it was very peaceful.  We spent the early morning hours searching for shells up and down the beach.  Always looking for that intact Conch shell which proved to be very elusive just like when San and I were looking for a Cedar Waxwing at Hoyt Farm.

Ocean City Maryland

Somehow that warm summer day in the hammock soon became a fall day in Ocean City Maryland with my fellow birder San.  We saw many birds on the beach, it was very peaceful.  We spent the early morning hours searching for shells up and down the beach.  Always looking for that intact Conch shell which proved to be very elusive just like when San and I were looking for a Cedar Waxwing at Hoyt Farm.

Sometimes life gets in the way!

Our dreams and desires can get sidetracked by life itself.  This blog is a case in point.  Our love of birding has gotten shelved due to the unexpected angste of everyday life.  The love of birding is still there, we just have not been able to rise to the birding occasion.  Time will, no doubt, afford us opportunities in the future to get back on track.  In the meantime, Ar and I were able to do a little birding, unofficially, in Ocean City, Maryland.  Here is a few of our birding shots.

Royal Tern

Franklin's Gull

Turkey Vulture

There was a pair of pelicans that did a fly-by everyday.

Brown Pelicans

Also on the beach the Sanderlings were abundant.  They were so busy looking for food that, on occasion, they had to take a little snooze right on the beach!

Sanderling

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Ocean City.  Who knows, with global warming, perhaps these birds will come to reside on Long Island year-round!